Sir Jim Ratcliffe has seen his name mentioned after it became clear that Fenway Sports Group (FSG) would entertain a sale of Liverpool.
That was according to The Athletic, who believe Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been enlisted to help find a buyer, while a full sales presentation has been produced for interested parties.
It was the Mirror who suggested that Ratcliffe could buy Liverpool, after previously failing with a bid for Chelsea earlier this year.
Now, the 70-year-old has made his stance clear.
Will Sir Jim Ratcliffe buy Liverpool?
In short, no.
According to the Telegraph, Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals giant Ineos has ruled itself out of the running to buy Liverpool.
The United Kingdom’s richest man is said to see more value in buying French sides, a feeling he has already acted on by purchasing OGC Nice.
The Telegraph believe Ratcliffe is focused on developing OGC Nice into a European superpower capable of rivalling Paris Saint-Germain in French football.
Senior figures at Ineos told the Telegraph: “Our position has developed since the summer and we are now focusing our efforts in Nice and raising our ambitions for the club to make them into a top tier club in France to compete with PSG. This would represent much better value for our investment than buying one of the top tier Premier League clubs.”
Ratcliffe is also a Manchester United fan, so any interest in buying their bitter rivals would have surely come with plenty of scepticism from supporters.
Who Liverpool could be purchased by
With Ratcliffe out of the running, let’s see who else has the financial power to buy Liverpool.
According to Arabian Business, investors in Dubai are interested, with a second bid in the pipeline after seeing an offer rejected in 2007.
Shaikh Ahmed Al Khalifa, a member of the Bahraini Royal Family, has also been mentioned as a potential buyer – to make things more interesting, he is a massive Liverpool fan.
As covered earlier on HITC Sport, Al Khalifa has met Sir Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita in the past – his Instagram is littered with Liverpool related posts.
Keep an eye on this situation, as more developments are expected.
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